Method and system for high velocity air control



p 1936- w. J. CALDWELL METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR HIGH VELOCITY AIR CONTROL Filed Sept. 10, 1931 BY MS ATTORNEY 2 Sheets-Sheet l TOR I,

p 5 w. J. CALDWELL 2,053,31

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR HIGH VELOCITY AIR CONTROL Filed Sept. 10, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 BY ms ATTORNWW Patented Sept. 8, 1936 UNITED STATES PTENT OFFICE METHOD SYSTEM FOR HIGH VELOCITY AIR CONTROL Willia J.

J. Caldwell, Bronxville, N. Y., assignor to McCormick & 00., Williamsport, Pa., a

5 Claims.

This invention relates to the control of air, conditioned or otherwise, when supplied to a space for ventilating, cooling and heating purposes at high velocity, that is, at lineal speeds upwards of 2500 feet .per minute.

It is desirable in most cases, that air supplied to any living space be conditioned with respect to temperature and humidity so as to provide the greatest comfort for the people therein. Heretofore, many systems have been devised for heating, cooling, and ventilation but with an air supply moving through grills or louvres at speeds of 600 to 1200 feet per minute, resulting in the neces-- sity for large ducts, large grills or a large number of small grills and also the necessity for some sort of exhaust system in order to direct the air movement.

Other systems have been devised in which de-' pendence is placed on secondary circulation amounting to three or four times the volume of the primary circulation, an insumcient amount of new air being introduced into the space, but

that small amount stirring up the stale air al-,

ready there.

An object of the present invention is to pro-- vide an improved system or method for heating, cooling, and ventilating living spaces by controlled, high velocity air movement without drafts and without refrigeration and with a plentiful supply of outside air and a minimum of recirculated air or none at all, and without the necessity oi providing an exhaust system to control the air movement.

A further object of this invention is the creation within a space of suficient positive air pressure to prevent the infiltration of unconditioned air through cracks or openings, maintaining at all times an outward flow of air from the space and thus preventing the entering of dirt and dust from without through doors and windows.

Still another'object of this invention is to main-= tain within the space an air movement above the dew point velocity of the air introduced, that is, above the velocity at which that air will deposit moisture or ieel clammyw It is well known, for example, that evaporation is hastened by air movement and even on a humid day one is com iortable in a breeze, and wet clothes on a wash line will dry on a humid day quickly only in a breeze. This is owing to, among other things, the fact that moving air it moving rapidly enough, say sec to too feet per minute, will pick up and maintain more moisture than still air and will give to the body the eflect of a drop in humidity because of rapid replacement of the tie/cent (Cl. 9H0) more or less saturated layer of air by new unsaturated air. Moving air will give the effect 01' a lower temperature than stfll air, if the body is moist. This action is true of inanimate bodies such as tinware and mirrors, as well as the living body. By dew point velocity" I mean that velocity of air which moving over a mirrored surface will remove moisture which clouds the mirror when the air is still under the same conditions of temperature and humidity.

An object of my invention is to take advantage of the efiective temperature and humidity drops due to moving air above the dew point velocity, without objectionable drafts, and maintain comfortable conditions within a space by air movement which would be considered excessive by conventional standards based on low velocity air supply through grills;

Another object of my invention is to control the direction and distribution of air within a space without the use of ducts or conduits within the space.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, as will be apparent as the description proceeds, my invention resides in the combination and arrangement oi parts and the adaptation of kno laws to produce a new result, as described in thisspeciflcation and particularly pointed out in the appended claims. I intend no limitations other than those of the claims.

Themethod herein described and claimed is Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic representation in detail of the control system shown in Fig. i.

Fig. 3 illustrates the cooperative arrangement oi multiple nozzles.

Fig. 4 illustrates in front view the assembly of three nozzles tov the discharge elbows and duct.

Fig. 5 is a side view, partly. torn away to illustrate the hall joint connection between and elhow The same reference characters refer to similar parts in all views.

Turning now to Fig. 1, a high velocity blower or fan I discharges through a supply duct I4, square to round transformations l5, elbows IE, to ball jointed cylindrical nozzles l6 provided internally with rifling or other means such as ribs adapted to impart a whirling motion to the air streams issuing from said nozzles shown in front elevation in Figs. 3 and 4. By reason of the ball joint between nozzle l6 and elbow IS the nozzle is directionally adjustable. These nozzles l6 discharge high velocity, whirling air streams into the conditioned space 20. A by-pass 24 operated by a reversing damper motor 4 which is remotely controlled-as by a switch 25' or double button 25' (Fig.'2) serves to permit adjustment of the air supply through duct l4.

Fan I may be located in an enclosed plenum chamber 30, and is actuated by a motor 2, the starter box 21 being located conveniently thereto, with remote stopping and starting control as at 26. With the type of blower preferred, an across-the-line starter is used.

Air is supplied to plenum chamber 30 by the fan suction through a vortex air washer 6, the discharge from said washer being indicated as at 5 and intake to washer 6 being tangential as at I, a suitable baflling 8 preventing other intake of air to chamber 30.

The fresh or outside air supply is through a downdraft intake ll, avoiding the heat of roof I3. A drain I2 is preferably located as shown. Intake louvres 23 set in the plenum chamber wall are actuated by a damper motor I3 controlled by a thermostat 22 in mixing space I 0 as will be later explained. The air entering through intake louvres 23 to mixing space H) may be drawn through the heat units 9 to which steam is supplied through a motor actuated steam supply valve 29 controlled by a thermostat 28 located in the conditioned space 20. In summer time or mild weather, the vertically sliding door 3, balanced by a counterweight 36, may be slid up over the heat unit 9, permitting air to flow directly from space I0 to the air washer intake I.

By reason of the intake of a positive quantity of outside air and the static headat which air is forced into the space, a definitely positive pressure may be maintained in the space, whereby outward pressure against infiltration of air may be had at window cracks and similar places.

A recirculation duct may be provided as at [1 having a louvred discharge as at l8 into the mixing chamber H), the louvres l8 being connected to the lever arm of damper motor I! in such manner'as to close when louvres 23 open, and vice versa.

Damper motors 3 and I9 and motor operated valve 23, controlled respectively by manually operated switch 25, thermostat 22 and thermostat 28 (Fig. 2) are supplied with electric power through distribution wires 35 from a power box 32, preferably containing a step down transformer 3|, and suitable protective and reset device 33 on the power main 34.

In operation air velocities as high as 9000 feet per minute from nozzles It may be used without objectionable drafts, the air discharged from the rifled nozzles l6, l6, whirling in a constantly expanding stream which takes on substantially a cone shape or vortex with a constantly decreasing forward speed so that as it expands into the occupied space it is moving just above the dew point velocity, preferably about 300 feet per'minute. motion resembling a sort of boiling action. Be-

The 'entire air of the treated space is in cause of this motion there is an effective drop in humidity and temperature giving a sense of comfort to the occupants of the space but without drafts from any given direction.

As indicated in Fig. 3 the discharge is from 5 a plurality of closely adjacent nozzles, the issuing air streams having opposite whirling or rotating direction as represented by the arrows, wherefore the nearby or adjoining portions of the streams have the same tangential direction resulting in an effectual gearing together of said streams. This opposite stream rotation is accomplished by providing the adjacent nozzles with oppositely directed rifling and the resulting geared condition of the streams causes said streams to have a cooperating directional rotation assisting in the forward axial movement thereof. In other words if the discharged whirling air streams were all rotating in the same direction, the nearby or adjoining portions would 20 have opposing tangential motion resulting in a bucking or frictional interference with each other materially reducing the energy of the forward axial propulsion, and causing undesired opposing turbulence in the locality of the noz- 25 zles, and creating some degree of noise. This undesired diminution of energy is overcome by the gearing together" of the air streams and therefore the opposite rotation may be truly said to assist in the forward axial movement of said 3 streams.

By reason of the ball joint of the rifled nozzles l6, l6, they may be fanned outor tilted up and down to change the linear or axial direction of the discharged air streams in order to prop- 35 erly distribute the air supply and avoid columns, pillars, fixtures, and the like. In winter, the air throw maybe over the lights, utilizing the heat of the lights throughout the room. In summer weather, the nozzles may be tilted down.

Stopping and starting the blower is done by a control 26. The amount of air is adjustable by control 25. Automatic regulation of steam supply to the heat unit 9 is accomplished by thermostat 28 in the treated space. The thermostat 22 in mixing chamber I0 is set to maintain a certain temperature in mixing chamber l3 above the freezing point and below room temperature of space 23. This temperature is determined both by the outside temperature and the temperature'of the recirculated air drawn through duct II from the space 20. If the withdrawn air is too warm, thus raising the temperature of space I0, damper motor I! opens the intake louvres 23 wider and closes the recirculation louvres II more. If the space 20 gets cold, due to lack of fire, thus lowering the temperature of space III, intake louvres 23 are closed and recirculation louvres l3 opened wider. If there is a sudden drop in outside temperature without increase in furnace flring,'thus lowering the temperature of space l0, louvres 23 will close and louvres II will open. The underlying action of damper motor 13 is determined, not by the ventilation requirements of space 23' but by the actual heat units supplied to space 23 above the loss of heat from the room from any cause. It is a supplementary action to that of thermostat 23 which regulates the steam supply to heat unit 3.

with thermostat"2 l -set at 72 F., for example, if the space 23 -falls below 72 the steam valve 29 opens wide and steam is called for. It may not be available in sumcient quantity to heat the space 23 either because of inadequate 75 firing, open doors, poor coal, or other reason. In this case the room temperature will not rise and chamber III will fall in temperature because the air passing through duct I1 is colder. Thermostat 22 thereupon cuts down the fresh air to the point where the heat units available to space 20 are sufficient to heat that space, in spite of the loss of heat from the space.

On the other hand, if space 20 rises in temperature above the setting of thermostat 28, the steam valve 29 will close and cut off the steam. Space 20 may still remain above the setting of thermostat 28 because of the heat from the lights, for example, or from overcrowding, or because of cooking stoves, or any other reason. Then chamber III will rise in temperature and more outside air will be taken into space rifling of two adjacent nozzles being oppositely 20 until that space is lowered to the setting of thermostat 28.

Moreover, it is apparent that the adjustment of louvres 23 and I8 changes the amount of air supplied to plenum chamber 30 and to space 20. If louvres l3 are closed, the resistance of the recirculation duct is cut oil and a maximum amount of air is handled, directly from intake louvres 23. If, on the other hand, louvres 23 are closed and louvres l8 wide open, a minimum quantity of air will be handled through the resistance of the recirculation duct and opening.

Preferably recirculation duct II, when used, is located adjacent the air supply nozzles l6 and at the top of space 20, giving rise to an air movement within space 20 not unlike a whirling stocking drawn constantly inside out.

What I claim as new is:

1. The method for high velocity airdistribution which comprises providing suitably conditioned air for supply to a space and discharging this conditioned air directly into the space well above the occupied section in a plurality of adjacent cooperating whirling and constantly expanding streams having opposite rotating motion.

2. The method for high velocity air distribution which comprises providing suitably conditioned air for supply to a space, discharging this conditioned air directly into the space well above the occupied section in a plurality of adjacent whirling and constantly expanding streams having opposite rotating motion, and varying at will the axial directional flow of each stream.

3. In a system for air distribution means for suitably conditioning air for supply to a space; and means for discharging the conditioned ail into said space in a plurality of adjacent cooperating streams having opposite rotating motion, said discharge means comprising a plurality of nozzles each provided internally with rifling, the

directed.

4. In a system for air distribution, means for suitably conditioning air for supply to a space; and means for discharging the conditioned air into said space in a plurality of adjacent cooperating streams having opposite rotating motion, said discharge means comprising a plurality of nozzles each provided internally with-rifling, the rifiing of two adjacent nozzles being oppositely directed, said nozzles mounted closely side by side and normally directed to cause the discharged air streams to have substantially parallel axial directions.

5. A structure for conditioning the air of an occupied space, said structure comprising an enclosure provided with an opening for admitting air from said space tobe recirculated; an inlet for fresh air adjacent said opening; means for suitably conditioning the fresh air and the air to be recirculated; and means to discharge the conditioned air including a plurality of closely adjacent nozzles adapted to create cooperating air streams having opposite rotating motion.

WILLIAM J. CALDWELL. 

